Windmill-governor



G. M. ALLEN. WINDMILL, GOVERNOR- No. 466,482. Patented Jan. 5, 1892.

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G. M. ALLEN.

WINDMILL GOVERNOR.

Patented Jan. 5, 1892.

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Ill lu l UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

GEORGE M. ALLEN, OF BELOIT, l/VISCONSIN.

WlNDMlLL-GOVERNOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 466,482, dated January5, 1892. Application filed August 31, 1891; Serial No. 404,226. (Nomodel.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE M. ALLEN, a citizen'of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Beloit, in the county of Rock and State ofWisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWindmill-Governors, of which the following is a specification.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference-lettersindicate like parts, Figure 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2, a horizontalplan section in line 2 2 of Fig. 1,

showing jaws closed in full lines and open in dotted lines; and Fig. 3,a detail cross-section in line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

This invention is especially designed for that class of windmills inwhich, through the action ofa pivoted tail-vane and a weight or springof varying resistance, the Wind-wheel, when the wind becomes toostrong,is automatically swung bodily out of the wind to a greater orless extent, dependent upon the force of the gale, and is afterwardreturned to its normal position by the action of the weight or spring.

The object of the invention is to provide a governing-brake which, whenthe wind-wheel is swung wholly out of the wind, or, in other words, edgeto the wind, will thereby automatically be caused-to clamp a collar ordisk attached to the wheel or its shaft, and thus prevent the wheel fromrotating when in that position, but upon the restoration of thewindwheel to its working position will release the wheel and allow it toresume its work.

To this end the invention consists, essentially, in combining with saidcollar or disk and with the mill-head andtail-vane a brake adapted whenapplied to clamp the collar or disk between two opposed surfaces and soconstructed as to be automatically applied by the swinging of the wheelout of the wind and automatically released bythe swinging of the wheelback into the wind.

The form and construction of the parts may be largely varied withoutdeparting from this principle. In the form of embodiment hereillustrated A is the mill-head; T, the tailvane, pivoted to themill-head at t, and provided with a projection t; b, the wind-wheelshaft; 0, the disk or collar rigidly secured to said shaft and revolvingtherewith, and M a the two clamping members, both of which may bemovable or the one movable and the other fixed, it being immaterialwhich, so long as they are adapted to clamp the edge of the disk betweenthem when the wheel is edge to the wind. The drawings illustrate theform last mentioned.

In the illustrated form n is a rigid arm or bar affixed to the mill-headbyaslot and bolt, (shown at 71 so as to be adjustable in position, andbent so that its outer extremity lies close to and parallel with thefront side of the-collar or disk 0 at or near the outer edge of thelatter. This adjustable arm forms the fixed jaw of the clamping device.The movable jaw of said device acts against the opposite side of saiddisk and is shown at M. In the form here shown it consists of a bentlever N,'pivoted at n to the rigid bar 'n, and having its inner endconnected by an articulated rod n to the projection 25 of the tail-vane,the parts being so arranged that when the rod 01 draws to a sufficientextent upon the lever N the front end 72 of said lever will be therebycaused to bear against the disk 0 and will clamp said disk between thejaws n n and stop the disk and the wind-wheel from further rotationwhile the disk is so clamped. It is not intended that the disk shallbeclamped by a slight deflection of the windwheel out of the wind, butonly when it has been fully deflected or nearly so. Hence the jaw 12 ispreferably allowed to move a short distance without coming in contactwith the disk, as shown in Fig. 1, by the space between a and 0. As thewheel becomes considerably defiected the jaw 97. should bear against thedisk without clamping it, thus forming for the time a friction-brake toretard the action of the wheel. As the wheel becomes fully deflected,however, the disk or collar, yielding slightly to the pressure of thejaw 01", comes against the opposing rigid jaw n and is firmly clampedbetween said two jaws, so that the wind-wheel ceases to rotate. When thewind abates, the spring M or its equivalent turns the wheel back intothe wind, and the jaws are thereby caused to open and release the diskor collar, allowing the windwheel to resume its work. By eonnectin g therod n to the projection by a screw connection, as shown at at, or byadjusting the bar n by means of the slot and bolt 71 the parts may beadjusted so that the movable jaw will act in the manner above describedor so as to produce the clamping effect more promptly, if preferred. Therigid jaw 01 may be secured to the mill-head in any way that will lockthem firmly together-for example, by rivets or bolts; but the adjustableconnection or is preferred. When the wind-wheel is thrown out of thewind by hand by means of the usual cord provided for that purpose, thedevice herein described automatically clamps the disk or collar andprevents the wheel from useless rotation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is---- -1. In a windmill, the combination ofthe wind-wheel, the mill-head, the tail-vane pivoted to the mill-head,the disk or collar revolving with the wind-wheel, a clamping devicesupported by the mill-head and consisting of two opposing jaws adaptedto clamp the disk between them, and a connection from the clampingdevice to the tail-vane, adapted through the action of the tail-vane tooperate the clamping device to clamp the disk when the wind-wheel isdeflected substantially out of the wind, substantially as described.

2,-In a windmill, the combination of the wind-wheel, the mill-head, thetail-vane pivoted to the inill-head, the disk 0, the jaws 11/ a thelever N, and the adjustable rod 11?, substantially as described.

3. In a windmill, the combination of the wiml-wheeL-the mill-head, thetail-vane pivoted to the mill-head, the disk 0, the movable jaw n, andthe adjustable jaw 01', substantially as described.

GEORGE M. ALLEN.

\Vitnesses:

A. R. MOLENEGAN, R0131. Tom).

